Jay-Z Tried To Force ‘DayZ’ Developers To Change The Game

It’s a hard knock life for Bohemia Interactive. First their alpha testing version of zombie survival multiplayer game DayZ sells only over a million copies at $30 apiece in the first month. Then they win the award for Best Hybrid MMO and snag the IGN’s People’s Choice Award. Adding to their 99 problems was one Jay-Z trying to change the game. (I promise that’s the last of the music puns.)

Jay-Z had his lawyers contact Bohemia Interactive about changing DayZ‘s name to ZDay. According to DayZ developer Dean Hall, “We declined. But it did make me laugh.” Hall revealed the anecdote in his Reddit AMA, in which he talked about his plans for the game and, of course, mentioned that he climbed Mount Everest. Well la dee da, your majesty, with your “leaving the house” and “achieving goals”. Some of us have important video games to play.

Anyway, the lawsuit threat from Jay-Z was by far the most interesting part of the AMA, although PC Gamer did a good roundup of the game-related answers here.

To summarize, Hall thinks the game will be out of alpha testing in six months, and they plan to add the ability to build bases and incorporate cars and small aircraft, although he says the aircraft should be “very complex to maintain”. One thing which may set DayZ apart is that it’s genuinely difficult to stay alive, so much so that teams of players have even banded together to enslave new players as scouts. No church in the wild. (I lied about being done with the puns.)